Pia: Raising the volume in quiet mayoral race

Published 4:27 pm, Friday, July 19, 2013

To the editor,

(Editor's note: This letter is in response to Jack Cavanaugh's July 11 column, "Corporate tax breaks a shell game for residents.")

I grant you that other mayoral candidates may be "shy and non-committal" or "silent about just everything," but I definitely am not, that has never been my style. Those attending any Board of Education meeting during my 22 years can attest to that. And recently The Advocate printed my Op-Ed piece supporting the reappointment of Audrey Cosentini to the zoning board, as well as my article pleading for transparency at town hall.

As far as the proposed Bridgewater deal goes, you and I agree. The 14.5 acres are specifically zoned for a boatyard, have been a boatyard for over 100 years, and should continue to be a boatyard (an outcome made much more tenuous now that Mrs. Cosentini was so unceremoniously removed from the zoning board ­-- over my public objection, as stated in the above referenced Op-Ed). Wouldn't it be wonderful for the citizens of Stamford to have that 14.5 acres with the boatyard -- coupled with greater public access and a beautiful shoreline park? That I support. Need more? Bedford Street and Summer Street should never have been changed to one-way streets. What a shame. Every holiday season for decades Bedford Street was the place to walk and shop and talk with your neighbors and wish them a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah, and Happy New Year. Now cars fly by as fast as they can, past restaurant after restaurant. The mall isn't Bedford Street, and downtown Stamford lost part of its charm.

More? Stamford's budget went up 3.41 percent, and most taxpayers would think "OK, so, my taxes will go up slightly." And, combined with a decrease in some property valuations, they might even optimistically think "my property taxes my even go down a tad." Starved for any real data or any meaningful specific numbers, who could be blamed for not rushing down the tax assessor's office to try and fight their new assessment? Then, later, comes bad news by mail: Huge increases, as much as 20 percent to 60 percent in some cases. Too late to see the tax assessor for an appeal, and good luck getting any answers from surly bureaucrats. Now what?

In two recent meetings after it was stated that homeowners and small businesses should "just hire attorneys" in the hope of getting some kind of relief from these crippling tax increases, I said "Stamford needs to consider the circumstances of all its residents, take care of each and every case, one by one, and explain to each property owner how it is possible that their taxes skyrocketed upwards when the city's budget only went up 3.41 percent."

The Board of Reps and the Board of Finance need to figure out exactly what happened, because right now there are a lot of angry, disgusted, and scared taxpayers who want explanations, and want to understand how our residential taxes have continually risen rapidly despite the often repeated mantra that "more and bigger corporate citizens will bring needed relief" to homeowners. Somehow this so-called relief never seems to materialize. Go figure.